His Rose
by Rianan D' Halmsu
Summary: All he could do was stare at the girl of his dreams, his rose, his princess, moving towards death with each passing second.


**A RenTatsu fanfiction, atlast! Hope you guys like it!  
…..X…..**

_Now that he thought about it, there meeting was very weird. Well, not exactly 'meeting' because he doubted that she had even seen him.  
As for him, he had merely glanced at the raven haired beauty, who was staring straight ahead at the battlefield, her raven hair blowing along with the wind, her skirt fluttering as a gust if wind blew past her. She stared at the battlefield; staring at Ichigo, desperateness flickering in her pellucid brown eyes. He could see how worried she was; he could see how much she cared. She was a frail human girl, strong in human terms, but somehow extremely weak. _

_Just one glance at her, just one glance, allowed all her characteristics, hidden behind that façade, flow into him flawlessly. Everything about her, everything about her…. It seemed so beautiful. The way she stood, giving a formidable pose, yet behind that façade, cowering. He could sense her fragility. He could sense how scared she was, and how desperately she was trying to hold onto that façade._

_He founded that admiringly beautiful._

_He remembered- it was just a tiny glance, yet he had smiled. He felt better, he felt rejuvenated.  
Smiling, remembering that face, he had heralded himself into the battlefield. _

Now, here he is, staring at the orange sun, as it dipps in the horizon, heralding a new day for a new generation. His fiery red hair, despite being soft, reflects the sun's rays. He smiles to himself, and runs his fingers through his fiery red hair. Casually, he keeps his hands in his pocket, and as if searching for something, he looks around. He gives a deep sigh, and shuts his eyes. Resting his body on the steel railing, he lets his mind drift….

_He was assigned to yet another mission in Karakura Town. He wasn't surprise; it had become almost common. After the Winter War and all, more Hollows were appearing in that little town. He had to admit- it was pretty annoying. Nonetheless, he did not want to question his Taicho. He highly respected that man._

"_I'm goin'" he announced, despite knowing that what he would get in return wouldn't be anything to smile about .i.e. a certain red-haired brat commenting on his leave._

"_Yup! You better do, freeloader-san!" the 'red-haired' brat so fondly commented "And while you are at it, please try your level best to get a job! Probably in some kinda rock band! You are soooo gonna be accepted!" with that, he rolled on the floor, laughing his ass off._

"_Yeah. Whatever. " he said casually, before opening the shoji door._

"_Ara? Abarai-kun? Exterminating Hollows, again?" a familiar voice questioned. The owner of the voice waved the Japanese fan in front of his face, a cocky grin playing on his lips._

"_Na. Ichigo and that Ishida guy are already doing that job for me. I'm just going out for a walk." With that. He left, her face now blurry.  
_

_Twelve people surrounded her, with her, as usual, being in the middle. This scene was familiar. So damn familiar. Everything about it was. It was the same. The people surrounding her were mere jealous brats. Jealous for the fact that she had again defeated them in yet another Karate- Tournament._

_Everything was so familiar. Did that mean that she would give up, and hide in one corner? Hell no! She would fight. But, she had to admit- twelve was a very difficult number to defeat. Yet, she was rooted to the ground. 'Rooted' not because of fear, but because of sheer will power._

"_C'mon!" she challenged, beckoning them "You guys are such wussies!"_

_The first one attacked, his lips etching to form a maniac snarl.  
Big mistake.  
She blocked, and gave him a hard punch on his chest. Not waiting for even a second, she kicked the boy on his face. The same thing continued: they attacked; she blocked, and then went into offensive, sending them back like scurrying rabbit. Yes, she _did _get_ _injured, but she still did not give up. She was not the type to give up, anyway. She had to grow stronger, whether it is for Orihime or even Ichigo for that matter._

_After enough blocking and re- attacking, she was exhausted.  
She _was_ right. Twelve against one would mean her loss and their win._

_Her legs buckled, as her bruised knees came in contact with the street. Her bruises pained, and her body was furiously bleeding. She couldn't fight any longer; _hell_ she couldn't even _see_. Everything became blurry, as the sun's rays blocked her view. She shut her eyes, cursing herself for her inability to fight. 'Damn….. It….'_

"_Hyaaa!" she heard one of the three boys screaming, charging forward. _

_She shut her eyes, waiting for the impact._

_A piercing and loud scream replaced the boy's attack. Startled, her eyes flew open, as she fixated them upon a certain red- haired man, the unconscious bodies of the unlucky boys surrounding him._

"_Yo! You all right?" she heard the man ask, as he bent towards her, getting a clear view of her face. "You are…." 'You are _her_.' He thought, as the daring girl's picture flashed in his mind. She had changed a lot, he could tell. Her hair was longer, her deep brown eyes were much more…._darer_. Her facial expression was softer though, but all in all, there was not much of a difference minus the bruised areas._

_The girl did not answer, as she kept on staring at the man, wide-eyed. His bright red spiky hair stood out in the bright warm sunset. Tattoos- if they were tattoos or simply something drawn with a marker- were drawn on his wide forehead. His red, his _beautiful_, red eyes looked at her, somewhat concerned._

"_Hey. Are you allright?" the bright haired man asked, again. Instead, the man earned a few blinks from the said girl followed by a few words.  
"Hnn?" she seemed a bit startled "Yeah. Yeah. I am all right." She said, and tried to get up, staggering in the process.  
"Hey, easy, Tiger." The man warned, and caught her, rounding his arms around her thin body, forcing her head on his chest, allowing her to rest._

_A comforting silence spread between the two, as she thanked the unknown person for his heroic presence, as Orihime would call it. Feeling surprisingly better, she looked up at the man, ready to thank him._

_That's when they realized that the position they were in was… embarrassing.  
Embarrassing- because, to an onlooker, it looked as if they were in the middle of a kiss. Somewhat like a Fairy Tale.  
Both felt their cheeks reddening, but tried their best to suppress it._

"_Eeeeeeh? Molesting someone at their first meetin', eh?" she teased, regaining her composure. Pushing herself away from his grasp, she stood up straight.  
"I…. er…. Wha-?" the man seemed embarrassed._

_The raven hair girl chuckled, brown eyes flickering with amusement. "No hard feelings. 'M just joking!" she tried to stifle yet another giggle.  
"Hnnn…" the man murmered. She was one of a kind, all right. Just like what he had expected her to be like when he first glanced at her._

"_Anyway, what's your name?" the girl asked, still laughing.  
The man seemed a bit confused, as he gave her a skeptic look.  
"What? Am I not allowed to ask the name of my rescuer?" she teased.  
The man reddened a bit, before reluctantly answering "Renji Abarai."  
"Renji, huh?" the girl said, still amused "Well Renji, I 'm Arisawa. Arisawa Tatsuki."_

_And thus, their friendship began._

Renji slowly opens his eyes as they meet with the dim sunset. How long has he been standing there? But, he does not care. He likes replaying that little scene in his mind, again and again, like a broken recorder. Sighing to himself, he turns to his right, not really prepared to go back. As he steps forward, he almost thanks when a certain voice stops him. "Renji!" the voice calls.  
He turns around, as the carrot stop comes to a halt, exhaling.  
"Hey, Ichigo! Wassup!" Renji greets the substitute Shinigami, as he tries to ignor the weird feeling he gets from Ichigo's voice.  
"I…. It's Tatsuki…. She…" the carrot top stands up straight, as he avoids direct eye contact.  
Renji's eyes widen. 'No…. no…. no…. it can't be!' he does not bother listening to the rest; there is no use. He pushes Ichigo aside, as he ignores the protest from the Shinigami's mouth.  
"Hey!" the substitute Shinigami calls, but he does not care.  
"No…. no… please!" he murmurs, desperate.

…**.X…**

He slides open the shoji door, heaving. He ran all the way here, that too in his gigai. He stares at the familiar scenery; they were as usual here. The fresh flowers which Orihime brought for her in the morning were dead, withering. Everything is the same….  
But… instead of the usual cheerfulness, the room was unusually quiet, if it weren't for Orihime whimpering. Ishida is there too, a sad look befalling his eyes. He sees Rukia in her Shinigami form, sitting with her leg tucked underneath her body.

And she is there too, a warm smile over her dead face. She lies in her futon, her clothes hanging over her body.

"Renji…." Rukia starts.

Renji's eyes widens, as he continues staring at her. She looks so limp, like a doll cut off from its strings.  
'No…. it _can't_ be…'  
He takes one heavy forward followed by another. His legs feel like jelly, as if he were not even present.He sees her…. She still looks beautiful. The warm evening light filters through the door, tiny specks dancing on her face,

_She is dead, yet she looks so stunning.  
She is dead, yet she looks so graceful.  
She is dead, yet she looks so….._

Renji collapses on his knees, beside her. He stares at her calm face, his mind still not giving up on the Fairy Tale he had created.

_The fairy Tale where he was her Prince-charming and she was a damsel that needed to be saved from this cruel world._

Water blinds his view. When had he started crying?  
He is a godamn Shinigami!  
He is not supposed to cry, that too at a human girl's death!

Repeating a lie over and over again, muttering it under your breath, would turn that lie into truth. That's what Renji believed. But now…

"Renji…. I…" Rukia tries to comfort her friend.

"You-" the red haired shinigami turns toward Orihime. Grabbing her by the collar, he shakes her furiously, not caring about the surprised onlookers. "You! You were supposed to take care of Tatsuki! YOU LET THIS HAPPEN! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" he knows that saving her would have been impossible. The Hollows talon had pierced through Tatsuki's stomach. He knew that the entire fault was _his_, and solely _his. _All he could do was stare at the girl of his dreams, his rose, his princess, moving towards death as every second passed.

Orihime whimpers. She guiltily looks down at the floor, whilst still being held by Renji.  
"You were supposed to-" Renji gets cut off by Ichigo, as he places a comforting hand on the fukutaicho's shoulder.  
"Renji." The substitute shinigami says, well understanding the pain Renji was experiencing. "That's enough."

Renji shoots him a look, but discards Orihime "Che."  
"Well, let's get going." Ichigo announces, breaking the heavy silence that had taken over.  
"But-"  
"Inoue" Ishida cuts in, and gives her a heartwarming smile "Let's go." Orihime reluctantly nods, as she follows the rest, but Ichigo and Renji, leave.  
Ichigo rests his back on the shoji door, and in a comforting voice, says "Renji. You know Tatsuki, she-"  
"Hnn?" Renji questions "If it's one of your lectures, then fuck off."  
Ichigo sighs, and runs his hand through his hair in a frustrated manner. "She had been calling your name till her last breath. She… she cried, she cried when she realized that she couldn't see you anymore, and-"  
"So? Get the heck outta here-"  
Ichigo's vein throbs "Whatever! You are so annoying, you know that! Why don't you just- ARGH!" he slides open the door and walks out, shutting the door soon. "That bastard! He-" Ichigo is ready to add more, but he stops. A pained expression fell over his eyes "He…" Ichigo murmures.

Renji winces as the door comes in contact with the wooden door frame. A preganant silence befalls the room- he does not complain, though. Being with her is enough. Just being beside her makes him feel….

He carasses her soft palm, taking her palm within his. He cleches his teeth and closes his eyes. He asks her questions, questions he never asked her before.

_Hey Tatsuki, do you remember when we first met?  
Hey, Tatsuki, did you ever…  
….Did you ever love me?_

He will never know the answer to them now. No matter how much he waits, no matter how much he pleads, he will never…  
He lets one tear slide down, and onto her palm. "Tatsuki…"

_She is dead, yet she still manages to look ….. admiringly beautiful._

**YES! I finally wrote this!  
Liked it? Hated it? C'mon guys, tell me~ (Just so you know, I am hinting you to review)**


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